Raaj Kumar Anand

Some Lesser Known Facts About Raaj Kumar Anand

• In his childhood, Raaj Kumar Anand’s parents sent him to his maternal grandparents in Aligarh because they were too poor to take care of him.

• His grandfather was a ragman and could not afford to educate him. Therefore, Raaj Kumar Anand had to work as a child labourer in a lock factory in Aligarh to complete his early education. He then completed his M.A. by giving private tuition.

• Raaj Kumar Anand then became a successful businessman in rexine leather in North India. Apart from the rexine business, he also had business interests in the real estate sector.

• He then began contributing his time to social service. In New Delhi, he runs the ‘Anand Path Foundation,’ which he formed with some of his colleagues with a motive to improve the lives of underprivileged people.

  

• Raaj Kumar Anand was influenced by Arvind Kejriwal‘s vision of “if politics changes, the country will change” during the ‘India Against Corruption’ movement in 2011.

  

• Reportedly, he was initially not interested in politics but his wife, Veena, contested the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections on the ticket of AAP from Patel Nagar constituency and won.

• In 2015, when AAP denied a ticket to Veena, Anand got separated from the party. Veena then contested from the Patel Nagar constituency on a Swaraj Party ticket but lost to the AAP.

• In December 2018, Raaj Kumar Anand opened a tuition centre in a slum area in New Delhi and named it ‘Dr. Ambedkar Pathshala.’

  

• After that, he founded another organization named ‘SCOTIC’ to help underprivileged people obtain loans. This NGO establishes a discussion between the bank and the borrowers, making it easier for them to get loans.

• He then joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

• On 11 February 2020, Raaj Kumar Anand contested the Delhi Assembly elections on the ticket of AAP from Patel Nagar constituency in New Delhi and was elected as MLA.

  

• During his tenure, he worked in various areas such as education, health, electricity, water, roads, drains, and sewer.

• Raaj Kumar Anand was then appointed as a member of the Committee on Government Undertakings.

• He contracted COVID twice during the pandemic in 2020. He was home quarantined and was an asymptomatic case.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was a shortage of oxygen beds in Delhi, he imported oxygen concentrators from China and built a Covid Care Center with 40 oxygen beds in Patel Nagar.

• On 3 November 2022, Raaj Kumar Anand joined the Delhi cabinet and worked in multiple areas including social welfare, labour employment, SC and ST, land and building, cooperatives, and Gurudwara elections.

• In November 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the business premises of Anand. ED alleged that some of his employees had evidence of unaccounted business investments and hawala payments sent to China in 2023.

• On 11 April 2024, he resigned from the Aam Adami Party over its policy on corruption. Raaj Kumar Anand said,
  

  The Aam Aadmi Party is embroiled in corruption. Given the situation, it has become difficult for me to stay in this party. That is why through your medium I want to convey that I am resigning from this party and my minister’s post.”